News Overview

BY HAGAR ELDIDI AND RUTH MEINZEN-DICK The commons (natural resources held and used collectively) support food systems through direct production and provision of water, food, fuel, fodder, pollination, and other key ecosystem services, and are also important sources of resilience for communities. They thus contribute to nature-positive solutions and advance equitable livelihoods. Yet the commons are under pressure from encroachment

According to the OECD’s recently released 2021 Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation Report, the governments of at least 54 countries provided transfers to agriculture of around $720 billion per year during 2018-2020. The report notes that “Overall, most current support policies are not serving the wider needs of food systems.” That spending could be redirected to finance food systems transformation—helping

BY SARAH EISSLER, JESSICA HECKERT,EMILY MYERS, GREG SEYMOUR, SHEELA SINHAROY, KATHRYN M. YOUNT AND JESSICA WALLACH Substantial gender gaps in time spent on unpaid domestic and care work can be found in every region of the world, and have expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic. These are due, in large part, to rigid gender norms that place responsibility for unpaid care and domestic work

BY SWATI MALHOTRA AND ALEXANDRIA RICHTER More than 155 million people experienced acute food insecurity at crisis level or worse around the world in 2020, an increase of 20 million from 2019 and a five-year high, as the COVID-19 pandemic compounded economic shocks, conflicts, and climate and severe weather impacts, estimates the 2021 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC). In a mutual

BY SARA GUSTAFSON, JOSEPH GLAUBER,MANUEL HERNÁNDEZ, DAVID LABORDE,BRENDAN RICE AND ROB VOS Global food prices are on the rise. FAO’s Food Price Index indicates prices in international markets have risen by 40% from a year ago (May 2020). Prices of vegetable oils in particular have surged, showing an increase by almost 110% over the past year. Other commodity prices, like those for

BY CHRISTOPHER BUTLER The need to innovate in agriculture is more urgent than ever. The rising global population will require 60% more food by 2050. Increasing urbanization in Africa and Asia and the impacts of climate change demand we produce this food with fewer inputs. While much of the world struggles with the threat of food insecurity, the cost of

BY JESSICA WALLACH The launch of the United Nations Decade of Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) will direct a lot of attention to the biophysical sciences. A new special issue of the journal Ecological Restoration highlights the need for more focus on human considerations: Equity, inclusion, and justice. The issue— guest-edited by Ruth Meinzen-Dick of IFPRI, Marlène Elias of the Alliance of

BY JOACHIM VON BRAUN Food systems at the global level and in many countries and regions are still failing to end hunger and malnutrition. With COVID-19 disproportionately impacting poor and food-insecure populations, levels of undernourishment continue to rise. Many food systems are based on production and distribution systems that are not sustainable. Poverty and inequalities between and within countries are